Cycling UK Forum

Recently did a wee island tour up here in Scotlandshire and had to pay attention to the ferry time-tables.
I enjoyed it on the whole - but was aware that my 'time' was ruler by the ferries - so next time, much as I enjoyed the scenery and folk, I think I'll skip the ferries

Touring is touring.
Cycling is cycling.

You can combine the two if you want to, but you don't have to.

Cycling can be transport, just like any other form of transport. I like cycling because it is transport and I enjoy the freedom, I also enjoy the "man and machine in perfect harmony" sort of thing. Miles get eaten, time gets eaten, and I enjoy the open road, getting a move on and being mechanically efficient.

If I wanted to visit somewhere and see and experience a place, I wouldn't have to get there by bicycle. Other transport methods are available.

Mick F wrote:Touring is touring.
Cycling is cycling.

You can combine the two if you want to, but you don't have to.

If I wanted to visit somewhere and see and experience a place, I wouldn't have to get there by bicycle. Other transport methods are available.

A sort of "cycling as a means to an end or an end in itself" concept. I agree, though I find it hard to disentangle them. I'm touring but I'm enjoying the actual cycling. Just like if you're cycling but enjoying the scenery. I often think it must be like this for some JOGlers - Look! Amazing - a mountain - didn't expect that.

Hmmm, a tricky one.

Edited to add "some".

I made the mistake of pitting myself against the clock on my first 'proper' tour earlier this year.
By the end of day 1, I was exhausted, dejected, I hadn't made it to my booked accommodation, and ended up waiting in a petrol station for a VERY expensive taxi. I didn't even want to LOOK at my bike again, let alone ride it the remaining 300 miles!!

Next day, I had a mooch round the nearby town, rode a few miles in the sunshine, hopped on a train and rode a few more sunny miles before crawling into my tent with a book. I enjoyed it so much I did it the next day and the next and it was actually quite an enjoyable week.

Unfortunately, that first day had sapped both my enthusiasm and my confidence, and despite beautiful weather, perfect cycling conditions, friendly and talkative people, careful, considerate drivers, and lovely scenery, I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy it like I should have. I still haven't recovered and since I got back, I've only cycled to work and back, I still can't muster the enthusiasm for anything else.

Still, all my friends and family believe I rode the whole distance as planned, all the hills and everything......and it would be rude to correct them now, wouldn't it.

Mythical wrote:Next day, I had a mooch round the nearby town, rode a few miles in the sunshine, hopped on a train and rode a few more sunny miles before crawling into my tent with a book. I enjoyed it so much I did it the next day and the next and it was actually quite an enjoyable week.

Bliss. Mick F's approach is just as valid. Both are great.

Certainly both approaches are valid, as are any others.

I used to drive all over the country, and sometimes further, for work. This was all about driving from A to B, finding the hotel, doing a day's work then driving to C, finding that hotel, and so on. It was all about time and distances with no opportunities to explore and discover.

My ordinary bike journeys are also like that. I need to get to place X by time Y.

So my tours aren't. I prefer tours that have no specific times or distances. If I fancy exploring a town or countryside, I can and do. If I fancy moving on, I do. I've done motoring tours like that, and it works well, for me.

Some folks prefer to challenge themselves with high mileages. Whatever works, works.

What a great question, a kind of the meaning of life question. Yes I used to log up times and distances and average speeds and get fed up that they were never quite what they should be. Then I had a very nasty illness which put me off the bike for 14 months and even after that it took another 6 months at least to get back into it. And for a good deal of that time there was no certainty I would ever again be able to do strenuous exercise, even slow cycling. Now I love every minute I spend on a bike because I know what it's going to feel like when I can't do it any more, which isn't all that far away when you think hard about it. Time is the enemy which can stop you loving what you do and doing it for the love of it, in my humble opinion that is.

Both approaches are perfectly valid, and enjoyable, just not in the same way.

I've done challenge rides, as well, and it's hard to beat the satisfaction (even exhilaration) of finishing something really challenging. But, it's much more work to get there, and not (for me) nearly as enjoyable along the way. I think of touring as a chance to enjoy the ride. I usually pick places to tour that I want to be a tourist; stop at tourist sites and take pictures of romantic ruins and things

I have to admit I don't think of them as the same thing, but I guess it's a matter of degree more than anything else.

hufty wrote:Leave your cycle computer at home, work out approximate distances after the holiday if you want to.

I use a GPS for navigation, and to record the route.

Firstly the track allows me to Geotag the photos and a permanent record for the "files"

I can rate the quality of my own tours by the daily mileage. Ten to twenty miles suggests a very interesting day. Fifty or more might suggest that I didn't get my itinerary right.

Surely it depends on if you tour to cycle or cycle to tour.

A agree with tramponabike above me.

It all depends on your preference. Cycle to tour, tour to cycle, a bit of both?

Personally I feel if you pit yourself against a clock you stand more of a chance to be disappointed, plus you miss out on the little things.
One day in Morocco, four of us had to cover 60km in 2 hours to meet a dinner date. We weren't late, but we can't remember anything of those two hours other than panting and sweating a lot!

If you ride out with no goal/target, no minimum mph/distance then you see the world with open eyes, you stand a better chance of surprise and your direction can change without worry.

I'm fond of the old Chinese proverb "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." (Lao Tsu, way back when)

Sarah

On my recent Way of the Roses ride, I would have liked to have time to spend visiting some of the attractions en route, and there are quite a few. However, my 3 day schedule and pre-booked campsites didn't allow much in the way of sightseeing. If I did it again I would take longer and look at stuff on the way. I am doing LEJOG in May next year but with support. I am hoping that this will allow some leeway in the daily schedule.

Touring and NOT watching the clock would be most abnormal I think.....

If you didn't need the wrist watch complete with calender you would be a very rare tourer indeed.

Why?.....We all have families, perhaps jobs and other commitments that prevent cycling off into the sunset without a care in the world.
Even then the rest of the world is dictated to by timetables and schedules, so if you want a ferry or train you may have to check the time piece now and again.

I'm struggling to find time/suitability (elderly parents with needs etc) to get to Bordeaux and cycle back up the West coast of France. Oh well fingers crossed

But we'll be retired one day Penfold

Robert wrote:But we'll be retired one day Penfold

Can't wait. Unfortunately, every year older I get the government put the retirement age back a year. At this rate I will never retire.